The Tale of Two Brothers
by Merci's Savior
Summary: Tony had never gotten along with his brother, in fact, Tony would say he family hated him. Mind you, there was ten years difference between the two, that didn't help. Tony had always felt like his parents had sent him off because they didn't care about him, only to go and adopt a one and half year old boy from Wales. He wasn't jealous of Harry, he wasn't.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all, so I've been on a bit of a Marvel binge, mainly the movies, lately. And I've been reading so many stories where Harry Potter is Tony's son, but I was going through some info about Tony Stark, and it says he was born in May 1970. That's only ten years before our dear boy-who-lived. Then, well this is what happened. Enjoy, let me know what you think. Obviously, this is a work in progress. I'll try to update as much as I can, but life does get in the way. :)**

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Growing up, Tony had to admit, he had hated his brother. Oh, he was family, and he probably would do anything for him, but he couldn't stand him otherwise. The age difference was one. Tony was, of course, ten years older than him. Which, in itself, was probably half the reason for the dislike. He'd been shipped off to boarding school at the earliest chance, 'to further his education' of course, and then his parents had gone and adopted this one and a half year old boy from Wales.

And then of course, just before his little brother turned eleven, their parents has died in a car crash, leaving him to look after him. He'd been twenty-one, he'd been barely old enough to look after himself, let alone a child.

It'd all gone to hell when Harry had turned eleven. He'd never let the kid near his electronics, not trusting his excuses that he hadn't meant to make it blow up. Unfortunately, Harry had been right, it wasn't his fault, not really.

What with, a mail delivery owl (are you kidding? Really? Who thought up that brilliant idea? Bloody people stuck in the dark ages) and a giant of a man (he'd asked if he actually was, and been laughed at, apparently, giants were much, much bigger) that had just appeared in their living room without so much as a sound, Tony and Harry had been convinced of Harry belonging in the Wizardry World (or rather, the English one, as the 'giant' had insisted).

So Harry had gone off, at eleven years old, to his parents alma mater, to learn the tricks and trade of a born wizard. For seven years, they'd lost contact.

Not that it was all his fault really. Harry had stayed with a family in England on the holidays, and well, Tony didn't have access to an owl (and he didn't want contact with one. Did you know the diseases those things could carry?). Tony had also taken over Stark Industries from Obadiah Stane, and well, he'd gotten a bit obsessed into turning S.I. into one of the most (he said 'the most' but Pepper had dissuaded him otherwise) advanced companies in the world.

And then Harry had appeared. Eighteen years old, looking about a hundred, (Tony swore that he'd seen grey hair in Harry's pitch black permanent messy hair) and somehow, covered in scars from somewhere that had been pitched to Tony as 'the safest place in the world'. Somehow, without Tony being there for his younger brother, Harry had grown up.

On the bright side, he hadn't sounded like a ponce, he had a very light American accent, and for once, Tony and Harry (well, Tony did, Harry had only ever wanted Tony to like him) forgot all their differences and acted like brothers.

They'd spent the night catching up, drinking, toasting to Harry's success and Tony's business accomplishments. Of course, it hadn't taken long before it had all gone to hell in a hand basket. Tony could sometimes be an insensitive prick afterall, (oh screw that, he was an asshole all the time, he knew that) and he'd made a comment about Harry being a kid or something. In fact, he didn't remember what he had said that started it, he just remembered Harry's look of disappointment, before he'd turned on the spot and disappeared.

It took another ten years, a desert, almost dying and a bit of a conscious overwrite for Tony, before they spoke again.

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**So what do you think? Review, let me know. Love it, hate it, I don't mind. :)**

**- Merci's Savior**


	2. Chapter 2 - Ugh, Feelings

**Okay, so I woke up this morning, thinking I'll just check my story see how people are reacting to it, I'll probably have like two reviews and, maybe a couple of followers. Well, I was setting myself up for a shock apparently. You guys are amazing. As I'm writing this, I have 60 Followers for this story, 30 Favourites and 12 Reviews and my story has been viewed 836 times! I can't even. You've completely made my day.**

**To clear up a couple of things, I'm using Iron Man movie verse, as well as Avengers, Thor and any Marvel movie that involves Tony Stark really, and I'm combining it with the Harry Potter book universe. Which means, Harry Potter will be canon except for the fact that he was Harry Stark and there will be no Ginny Potter or the three kids. That epilogue always creeped me out. Oh and this will not be a rehash of the Iron Man films, there might be the same villains, similar fight scenes in parts, but it won't be the same old story (I hope).**

**Oh and you all should be super proud. I'm actually writing out a plot for this story so I know where it's going the entire time. :) That should mean updates on a semi-regular bases if my muse stays with me.**

**_I do not own Harry Potter, Iron Man/Tony Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D., The Avengers, Hulk, Captain America, nor do I own anything else that is mentioned in here. This is a work of fiction, written with other people's characters because they are just so much cooler than mine. _**

**Now onto the second chapter. :)**

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The Tale of Two Brothers

Chapter Two:

Ugh, Feelings.

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It wasn't often he was wrong.

Okay, that was a lie. He was often wrong, unless it came to technology, he was an undisputed genius when it came to that. When it came to family and friends though? Yeah, he was wrong a lot. He blamed his intellect. Geniuses were known for their social awkwardness, and while he had many eccentricities to almost make up for that, he just wasn't good with people.

Unless they were girls and he was trying to get into their pants. But that was a whole different story. That, that he had learned, that had come with practice.

Oh he was getting off on the wrong foot, time to start again, let's start a little bit earlier.

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**_Press Conference_**

**_Stark Industries Main Branch_**

**_California_**

**_2:30pm_**

"_I never got to say goodbye to my father. There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. lf he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels. ... I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability." _

"_Mr Stark!"_

"_Hey, Ben."_

"_What happened over there?"_

"_I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be. What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well."__**(Extract from Iron Man 2008, I do not own)**_

Tony Stark walked off, Pepper trailing behind him, ignoring everything it seemed, but in fact, he couldn't hear them. Maybe he should take Pepper's advice and go to the hospital. He shook his head at himself, he couldn't, they couldn't know about his chest, they'd lock him up in a psych ward and throw away the key. After all, who puts things in their chest voluntarily, never mind it was keeping him alive. _Morons. _

"_Tony." _

He stopped. Crap, she'd sounded worried.

"_Yes Miss Potts." _Dammit, why did he always do that? Every time someone worried about him and his business he pushed them away, not physically, okay sometimes physically, but most of the time, it was with his wording. He distanced himself. It was how that fight had started with Harry ten years ago, he just couldn't handle it.

She looked at him, conflicted, as if trying to figure out if what she wanted to say was worth it. God, she was beautiful. She was perfect.

"_Shall I put the staff in the weapons division on paid leave, or make them redundant sir?" _Obviously not what she was going to say, she would never ask his opinion on something like that, she would do what was best for the staff of Stark Industries, she always did. They were her family.

"_I'd transfer them to different divisions for the time being Miss Potts. We have the best and the brightest, let's see if they can make things other than death." _

He knew that he wasn't being his usual self. There'd been no witty remarks, no obscure references, no slightly sleazy remarks that would've made her laugh. This was serious. Something he hadn't been since his parents had died when he was 21, and for a short period ten years ago.

"_Will that be all Mr Stark?"_

"_That will be all Miss Potts." _

She walked off, leaving Tony standing there, rubbing his chest, he'd have to upgrade his chest piece soon, go for something a little less bulkier, and then he would have to look for a alternative to palladium because it would slowly kill him otherwise. Of course, there were preventions that he could use for the moment. He needed to focus on a suit.

Tony turned back to the exit he was going, spotting Happy following him at a distance as he did so. Good, he was still pretty jumpy. He needed all the backup he could get if something ended up happening. Losing half your ribs, and having metal shoved into your chest to save your life was no easy task. Why did he do it again? Oh that's right, he didn't have a choice. He doubted the hole in his chest would ever heal, even if he ended up getting rid of the shrapnel near his heart.

He ran his hand over his face, he hadn't slept since they'd found him in the desert. No one blamed him, they'd only guessed what he had gone through of course, but they knew enough of terrorist groups to have the basic idea of what they did to prisoners. In fact, it was rather pathetic how well he'd managed to fob them off on debriefing him.

He rubbed his eyes again, he was getting a headache. His brain was going a hundred miles an hour in six different directions, it was frustrating. He wanted to look at the arc reactor that they'd built. Maybe that would stir up some inspiration. He closed his eyes as he walked, trying to focus on something else apart from the pain that his head and chest seemed to radiate. Or maybe, he could make them his motivation.

It was because of this, that he didn't notice the person in front of him. He was used to people moving out of the way, he was Tony Stark afterall, billionaire. People moved when he moved, people listened when he talked. So he ran into someone, the same height as him, maybe taller, but solid. Tony's hands went straight to his chest, as if they could help the shooting pain that had taken over from the dull ache that would never fully disappear.

"_You're alive." _

He started, he would never admit it, but the relief in that tone startled him, as if they actually cared that he'd come back home, safe. Tony opened his brown eyes and stared at the green-eyed twenty-eight year old in front of him.

"_Harry."_

That was all he'd said, and then he was being hugged.

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**What do you think? :) Let me know.**

**Merci's Savior**


	3. Chapter 3 - Affection Causes Injuries

**So I might have just acted like a little kid, one of my favourite authors on added me to their story alert and I've reached over 150 followers and over 65 favourites. :D I'm pretty sure I just went squeee! Hope you enjoy this chapter, I was mostly done with it, then left it for a night, reread it and hated most of it so I redid it all. Tony is ridiculously hard to write. I just can't get his sarcastic arse self to come through how I like. Review, I love reviews, they make me want to write more, they feed my muse and he's a hungry little bugger. :)**

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The Tale of Two Brothers

Chapter Three

Affection Causes Injuries

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He hadn't been able to help it. He'd gasped with the pain, and as soon as he had, he'd been released, with wide emerald eyes looking at him. How is it that his kid brother could, in his late twenties, pull off the puppy dog eyes? It wasn't fair. Pepper just laughed at him, now, if he tried to pull that with her, then again, maybe she had just developed a tolerance to it. He'd have to test that out at some other point.

Tony swatted at Harry's hands, they'd been trying to rip open his shirt to see where he was hurt, glaring, despite the hurt look Harry sent his way. The pain that had, finally, gone down to a dull ache, was now back with fiery abandon. With the extra twinges traveling down his arm, he'd also probably pinched a few nerves that shouldn't have been disturbed. He'd be having an all-nighter tonight, definitely, to upgrade this chest piece. He couldn't be hurt by hugs, that was just pathetic and if had been anyone else, he'd be making wise cracks.

"What are you doing here?" Harry's eyebrows furrowed, as if his look of concern actually answered Tony's question. He took the chance to look over his kid brother. Oh, for the love of Pete (who was this Pete anyway?), he was taller then him. Really? He was also broader in the shoulders, and he looked comfortable in the stares he was getting from the crowd of reporters that just refused to leave. Tony ignored the satisfaction he got from realizing that Harry, well, he looked happy, content.

"Your press conference made world wide news. Even in my part of the world. I came as soon as I heard. I've been looking for you Tony." Even in just jeans and a t-shirt (was that a badge?), Harry looked powerful, commanding and everything that Tony tried to portray whenever under scrutiny by the reporters, except Harry, he just did it effortlessly.

"Missed our weekly bonding sessions, cuddles and our deep and meaningfuls, little brother?" With that sarcastic comment, the cameras went nuts. The reporters had finally caught up to them. They'd seen the hug, missed the photo op though, thankfully. Tony had a reputation to maintain, even with his brother. No one had seen the youngest Stark in almost twenty years, this was going to be headline news, alongside Tony's decision to close the weapons division of his company.

Tony sighed, pulling Harry along with him as he walked. He spotted Obadiah trying to calm the reporters and get his attention. Well, that was something he was going to avoid for the moment. Exiting the building, he pulled Harry alongside him, pushing him with his left arm when he tried to stop.

"Ah, ah! No escaping now. Came here to check on me, you get all the scary details. No backing out now, no disappearing acts. Going to act like a Stark, you'll get treated like a Stark." With that, Tony pushed Harry into the seat of the car that Happy was driving, following him close behind.

This conversation was not going to be fun, it was not going to be sunshine, daises or butter mellows, more than likely, with their tempers they were going to yell, they'd done it enough as kids afterall. They were silent as Happy drove, Tony had already informed him he wanted to look at the arc reactor before they left the branch.

"I just..." Harry huffed, running a hand through his insanely messy hair (seriously, had he ignored all those lessons about product when they were kids), and looking at Tony as if he was unsure whether to just disappear while he still could.

Tony ignored him, looking in the bag on the floor of the car for something, anything to keep him distracted. He smirked as he pulled out an ear piece, he knew that he kept Pepper around for a reason. In seconds, it was online and he was hearing a familiar voice, that somehow, he had missed almost as much as Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and even Harry.

"Good to have you back sir. Shall I run diagnostics?"

"Good to be back buddy. No, that can wait till we reach the house, J.A.R.V.I.S. make sure that Pepper knows we'll have company for dinner." Harry started, like a rabbit in front of predator and stared at him, gaping.

"Yes that means you, stop gaping. You look like a trout. Pepper will want to see you. It's not often we have the Head Auror of Britain visiting." Harry's eyebrows furrowed, as if he doubted the awesomeness that was Tony Stark.

"I only got the promotion just before you were abducted. How did you? ..." Harry paused.

"You know what? I don't even want to know your sources, I doubt they're legal." The black-haired man put his hands up in the air, as if he was pushing the thoughts and knowledge away from him.

Tony chuckled. He wasn't completely back to his old self just yet. He had just been held captive, tortured and been convinced he would die for the last three months afterall. He doubted anyone would bounce back as well as he did. He didn't want to give up his sources, but he knew that it would be more entertaining if he did.

"I got several letters delivered by owls. Really, are you kidding me with those? Technophobes, the whole wizardry race? Section? Whatever the hell you classify yourselves as. The owls delivered weekly reports on your bright and shiny self after our fight. In the last year, they've included pictures, updates on your love life. Poor form brother. Two dates in a year, and you didn't even get past first base. I'm ashamed. Ashamed I tell you."

Harry just stared at him.

"Luna." Tony wanted to pout, he thought that it would take Harry a little longer to put it together. Harry just grinned when he noticed Tony's put out face.

"She's the only one that knew about the dates. My best mates, Ron and Hermione just had their second child. Ron's still pestering me about Ginny marrying someone else." If he hadn't been getting weekly updates for ten years, sometimes with background on the people that frequently appeared in the letters, Tony would have been lost. Instead, he could picture a red-headed tall man, and a pregnant brunette. Luna's last letter had included several moving pictures. He still hadn't perfected copying that idea for technology either.

"Beware of sandy days and ungifted prophets." It had been on the back of the last letter sent to him. As if absentmindedly written. Harry looked at him in puzzlement. Tony laughed, for the first time since he was captured. It wasn't a light laughter, it was bitter. But he felt lighter, as if he was finally accepting his circumstances.

"I should meet this woman, Luna. She knows a lot more observant than most isn't she?"

Harry just nodded, smiling slightly. Somehow, he knew not to ask. The atmosphere in the back seat of the car seemed to be much more relaxed, the tension was disappearing, as if the last twenty years hadn't happened.

There was no gushing of emotions, no tears, they both had their faults, stubbornness was one they both had in abundance. Unknown to each other, they both had the same idea. Neither would let the other disappear out of their lives again. They were brothers, it was time they started acting like it.

Tony coughed, taking a sip of water from the bottle that always seemed to be in the back seat of any car he was in if he wasn't driving. Pepper's way of keeping him hydrated no doubt. That woman could be a evil genius if she put her mind to it. Thank the heavens, she wasn't.

"You were looking for me." He paused, refusing to look at this brother. He was trying to keep the flashbacks away, to keep from picturing Yinsen's face as he died. He took a deep and silent breath, pushing the mental images away. He'd deal with them later, preferably with alcohol, and a punching bag.

"Why did I stay in a cave for the last three months? What happened to 'magic can fix all boo boos?" That was what he had been led to believe afterall. There was no cancer in the wizardry world, or in their users, their innate magic fought it off. There was magical diseases of course, but no mundane ones (he refused to call himself a Muggle) that he knew of.

Harry winced, rubbing the back of his neck, reminding Tony of a anime he'd seen in the mid 90s. Harry even had the crazy black hair like the character. What was his name? Tony shook his head, it didn't matter.

"Sandy places tend to make tracking spells go haywire. And well, I'm Head Auror. I run the place now. I took as much personal time as I could, to look, but what with the sand, only being one man, and the fact that most people in the wizardry world don't even know I have a brother, I didn't achieve much. Pepper kept me updated with what little news she had." Harry looked, well, defeated, like he knew that Tony was just going to snap at him, tell him to leave him alone, that just because Howard and Maria had adopted him, didn't make them family.

"I should've made sure you were doing well in school, that you were living up to the Stark name. You should have been making a name for yourself." Tony stated, a complete 360 away from their current conversation, but Harry remembered what he was like, he reacted like it didn't surprise him.

"It's Potter."

"What?"

"Hogwarts refused to put my name down as Stark since I'd only been adopted in the muggle world. I'm Head Auror Harry James Potter, Recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class."

Tony rolled his eyes, looking around to see if he could find a bottle of scotch, preferably from actual Scotland. Johnny Walker was not a scotch. And he needed a drink. Three months of forced sobriety were not fun, especially with torture, no sleep, sand and dead friends included in that.

"You're Harry James Howard Stark, wizard, Jiminy Cricket to all, Tony's Stark's little brother, hero. How do you sign your name?"

Here, Harry ran a hand through his hair while he sighed, proving Tony's point.

"Harry James Howard Stark."

"Exactly. You're a Stark, you want to be a Stark. Dad wanted you to be a Stark." Tony pouted slightly, not that he would ever admit it, it caused Harry to smirk slightly. Seemed Pepper had found his scotch compartment and taken his stash, and when he said scotch compartment, he meant his multiple scotch compartments. She was good, he'd have to add a passcode, maybe a fingerprint next time.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"What happened over there Tony?"

"I decided I wanted to be known as something other than the Merchant of Death." His tone was final, he wouldn't be talking about it. Harry ran a hand through his hair again. This, he understood. It was what caused him to make the next decision, it was time to be brothers, actual brothers. He couldn't do that from the other side of the world.

A flick of his wand, Tony stared at him, wondering how he had missed that. Harry started to speak. He knew what he was saying was being transmitted to a note that would send as soon as he ended the spell.

"I, Harry James Howard Stark-Potter, Head Auror and recipient of the Order of Merlin First class, do hereby issue my resignation from the Auror Corp due to a familial ordeal. I so swear on my magic that I have no been coerced in any way, shape or form.

P.S. Sorry Kingsley, I won't be back in the U.K. for a while. I have to do this. Deliver this message to Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt." A slight flash of light. He was officially unemployed.

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**Another cliffhanger, I think I'm addicted. Sorry guys. I do have more written, but it's not flowing right, at least this chapter I'm happy with. I will try to put up the follow up soon. At least my chapters are slowly getting longer. :) Anyone catch my hint? Review, let me know what you think. Thank you again loyal readers. **

**Merci's Savior**


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